Improvement in abdominal supporters



MARY s. LARED..

Abdominal-Supporters.

Patented Feb. 10.1874.

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PATENT OFFIOF.

MARY s. LARNFD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ABDOMINAL SUPPORTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.147,275, dated February 10, 1874; application filed October 29, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, MARY S. LARNED, ofthe l city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State nying drawing, which forms part of this speciiication.

The nature of my improvements consists in providing an abdominal supporter for the use of females, which shall, by the peculiar construction of the web or material from which it made, be self-adjusting-that is to say, shall at all t-imes retain its position upon, and conform to, the conguration of that portion ofthe body for which it is destined to offer relief and support, and which, at the same time, will of itself expand in conformity with the enlargement of the abdomen during the period of pregnancy, without chafn g or irritating the skin.V

I-Iaving thus briefly stated the nature of my invention, I shall go on to describe it, reference being had to the drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front view, Fig. 2 a side view, and Fig. 3 a back view, of my improved selfadjusting abdominal supporter as it appears when placed in position on the body.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A and A is the body of the supporter, consisting of a knitted web, and formed, by the peculiar stitch of the knitting, in ridges that run perpendicular-ly up and down, or nearly so, from the top edge to the bottom edge of my supporter. rIhis body I construct, preferably, of two parts or pieces shaped alike, and united at the front and back by eyelets and cords or their equivalents, in the usual manner, as shown in Figs. l and 3. rIhe body may, however, also be made in one piece and laced in front only, or in the back only, or at one side only, without affecting the results attained by the application of my invention. a and o are elastic bands, the former running through the upper edge, and the latter through the lowermost edge, of the body of the supporter, as shown. These bands may be lengt-honed or shortened the usual manner, when it is found desirable to do so. The front portions of the body of the supporter are attached to narrow plaits or bands made of cotton clot-h or any other suitable material, as shown at B B in Fig. 1,. At the edges of each of these plaits or bands are inserted two whalebones, b b and b b', or steel corset-springs covered by the cloth or other material whereof the plaits are made, and between these whalebones, which reach from the top to the bottom of the supporter, I insert the eyelets c c c, as shown. On the inner side of the body of the supporter, in front, there is a wide iiap, made, preferably, of cotton'clot-h, doubled or three-ply, which extends above and below the supporter proper, as shown at d d in Fig. l. This iiap is attached, on the inside, to one of the bands or plaits B B', at a line indicated by d d in Fig. l, and its object is to act as a pad to the front part of the supporter, by softening the pressure, and preventing the whalebones and corset-cords from chaing the skin of the body.

Then the construction of my supporter shown in the drawing is adopted-viz., making the body thereof in two parts-an exactly similar arrangement is used for the back part thereof, as shown in Fig. 3, where (l C' represent the cotton cloth plaits or bands; c c and c c', the whalebones 5 i c' t', the l elasticity to that part of my supporter which, l

when applied to the body ofthe wearer, comes directly in front of and under the abdomen, where the pressure is greatest, I gather the knitting-stitches into close parts or` sections, as shown at h h and 7c k on Fig. l. By this arrangement of the stitches in the fabric, great softness, iiexibility, and strength are added to those parts of my improved supporter where these'qualities are most essential to the relief and comfort of the wearer. v

I do not claim, broadly, the construction of the supporter as hereinbefore set forth; nor do I lay any claim to the usual expediencies :gid arrangement of Whalebones, eyelets, cords,

I am unaware of the employment of the same material, or of any analogous one, which is not only sufciently porous to prevent heating, but will also force itself into and hold upon the' skin. The ordinary elastic ones have rubber in them, which makes them objectionable.

. I claim as a new and useful improvement,

proper laeings and stiffenings, all arranged as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of October, 1873.

Mns. MARY S. LARNED.

Witnesses JOHN H. WHIPPLE, S. A. GOODWIN.

a coarsely-knitted fabric, provided with the 

